A Scout above all others

Westside High senior named South Carolina's Eagle Scout of the Year

David Buchanan listens as a boy speaks at a Boy Scouts Troop 215 meeting at First Presbyterian Church in Anderson. David has been named the American Legion South Carolina 2012 Eagle Scout of the Year.

Anderson Independent Mail

ANDERSON - Seventeen-year-old David Buchanan vaguely remembers the first Boy Scout camping trip he went on.

He was three years old, and the camping spot was in the Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, N.C. David wasn't a Boy Scout then. His brother, Russell, was. Russell, who is nine years older, went hiking during the trip. Because David was so young, he went to a nearby fish hatchery with his parents, Patti and Mack Buchanan.

"I can remember the weird little pools at the hatchery," David said, a boyish grin spreading across his face.

That trip began, for David, what would be a life entrenched in the Boy Scouts of America.

Today, Buchanan is a senior at Westside High School preparing to graduate in a few weeks. He also is the most decorated Boy Scout in the 83-year history of his troop, Boy Scout Troop No. 215, and he was recently selected as the American Legion's Eagle Scout of the Year.

As much as he's given to the Boy Scouts, the organization has also given to him.

It has introduced him to his best friends, it taught him about sibling rivalry, teamwork, it introduced him to several states including New Mexico and Virginia, and helped him find a career path.

His interest in Boy Scouts also helped lead him to join the Junior ROTC program at Westside High School, where he is now an executive officer of the school's battalion. He has brought that same focus to playing the violin with the Westside High School orchestra and chamber orchestra.

"To be honest, I fell in love with Scouts," David said. "There are so many things you get to do because of the Scouts. I really like the structure. I like to know what's next, and I like to be doing something."

All three of his uniforms — the ones he wears for Junior ROTC, for the Boy Scouts and for Venture Crew — show signs that he likes to stay active.

There are six rows of ribbons on his Junior ROTC uniform and a handful of medals. On his Boy Scout uniform, he has 75 merit badges. The colorful badges completely cover one side of his uniform's sash and continue on the back of it.

It also is covered with pins, medals and other recognitions.

His Venture Crew uniform has a couple of medals on it, too. The Venture Crew is an advanced level of Scouting, designed for older youth who want to continue participating in the organization's activities. Young men and women can join a Venture Crew.

Out of all those ribbons and badges, a few have made their mark on David. Sitting in the lodge for Troop No. 215 Thursday, he talked about them.

His fingers stopped on the genealogy badge first. That badge brings back a memory of sitting in the Anderson County Library with his brother, Russell, looking through old newspaper articles. They stumbled upon a story and photo of Russell when he was a Cub Scout.

The pulp-and-paper badge was interesting, he said, because he earned it by learning how paper is made and making some himself. Earning his two shooting badges introduced his love of shooting.

But the two that have meant the most to him are his engineering and aviation badges. With one, he was able to hear about some engineering concepts from employees with Fluor Daniel in Greenville; with the other, he learned some of the mechanics behind airplanes.

"I've always been fascinated with space and planes for some reason," David said. "When I earned those two badges, I realized I wanted to be an aerospace engineer."

He now plans to attend Clemson University, as did his older brother. Russell majored in architecture, but David said he plans to major in mechanical engineering first and then pursue a degree in aerospace engineering.

The young man, with his wavy reddish hair and round face, spoke with relish about the memories he's collected in the Scouts. He talked about long hikes in freezing temperatures, spending the night at the S.C. State Museum, spending summer after summer at the Scouts' Camp Old Indian in Traveler's Rest, and attending the Boy Scouts' 2010 National Jamboree in Virginia.

Of all the memories, his favorites come from the National Jamboree, an annual gathering of Scouts from across the nation and the globe. They went hiking, rapelling, rock climbing and scuba diving.

About 45,000 people attended, and David met Scouts from Canada and from Saudi Arabia.

"I met lots and lots of new people," David said. "There were thousands and thousands of other Scouts there. That was amazing."

Others now use that word — amazing — to describe David's experiences with the Scouts.

Lt. Cmdr. Richard Uhrich, a member of the state's American Legion chapter, said the legion's subcommittee for support of the Boy Scouts voted unanimously to award David with the Eagle Scout of the Year award. Uhrich chairs that subcommittee.

"The committee, independent of one another, all voted on David," Uhrich said. "He just rose to the top. In every category that we look at, he not only exceeded what we typically see, he blew it out of the water."

David will now go on to compete at a regional level, and then hopefully at the national level, for the American Legion's Eagle Scout of the Year award, which carries a $10,000 scholarship with it, Uhrich said.

Uhrich mentioned David's involvement in the Boy Scouts, but also his commitment to the orchestra and Junior ROTC unit at Westside High School, his membership in the National Honor Society, the National Beta Club and his dedication to his church.

Uhrich said David has received the Boy Scouts' William T. Hornaday Award for Conservation, a rare honor in the Boy Scouts, for his work in helping clean up Harper's Ridge Stream in Anderson County. Plus, David has earned 10 palms, which are pins that can only be earned after a Boy Scout is awarded his Eagle Scout.

"He's got more palms than I have seen in a long time," Uhrich said. "He's an amazing kid."